Selected Lectures on the Father and Son Compendium Sutra (130)

Original: Great King. King Boundless Praise further contemplated: Through the power of all my meritorious roots, may exquisite flowers rain down universally upon the four continents of the world. Having generated this thought, various kinds of supremely wonderful heavenly flowers rained down upon the four continents.

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, King Boundless Praise again gave rise to a thought: Through the power of all my meritorious roots, let exquisite flowers rain down universally upon the four continents. After giving rise to such a thought, various kinds of supremely wonderful heavenly flowers rained down upon the four continents, abundant like rain. The flowers on Earth are not beautiful enough; they appear coarse in comparison to heavenly flowers, while the flowers of the heavens are exceedingly wonderful and sublime, their fragrance and colors far more magnificent than those in the human realm. Nevertheless, King Boundless Praise also had to expend an immense amount of his own merit and virtue for this. He had to expend the merit and virtue he had cultivated at the feet of measureless Buddhas, leaving no reserves. Once the Tathagatagarbha has no reserves, his merit and virtue vanish, and all his endeavors fail to succeed. Therefore, we Buddhist practitioners must not casually expend our own merit and virtue. We should minimize the enjoyment of blessings and reserve them for the purpose of attaining Buddhahood.